In the manufacture of garments, pockets are provided chiefly for carrying useful items. Such useful items can include, for example, keys, money, wallet, handkerchief and so forth. The pockets are integrated into the garment and take the general form of a pouch open at one end for convenient access to the contents.
There are two basic types of pockets: the standard pocket and the patch pocket. The standard pocket is located on the inside of the garment, which includes a pocket slot for access thereto. A standard pocket thus occupies a concealed and protected location in the garment.
In contrast to the standard pocket, a patch pocket is located on the outside of the garment. In its simplest form, a patch pocket comprises a layer or patch of material sewn only at the bottom and side edges to the garment so that articles can be received therebetween. Patch pockets are most popular in less formal garments such as shirts, trousers, jeans and the like. Patch pockets are also very popular with jackets, sport coats and so on. In many cases, a flap is provided on the garment to cover the open end of the patch pocket. While construction of the standard pocket is relatively more complex and time-consuming, construction of patch pockets and flaps also involves numerous manual operations including material cutting, positioning, sewing and trimming. For example, the material turnunder in a patch pocket causes unsightly puckering which must be remedied. Such manual operations are time-consuming and tend to increase the cost of garment production.
As an alternative to traditional tailoring and sewing procedures, there have been some efforts directed to the use of adhesives in garment construction. For example, in copending application Ser. Nos. 905,054; 948,016; and 138,080; now U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,156,293; 4,263,678; and 4,321,710; respectively, each of which is assigned to the assignee hereof, there are shown inventions concerning the construction of standard pockets with the aid of adhesives. Heretofore, however, adhesives have not been employed in the construction of patch pockets or flaps. There is thus a need for patch pocket and flap constructions which utilize adhesive connection techniques to reduce garment production costs.